The invention relates to a fastening device for flat components, especially solar modules, to be arranged on a framework, and includes a first profile mounting rail and a second profile mounting rail that are spaced apart from one another and that are to be arranged horizontal and parallel on the framework, and on which one component can be affixed in the area of its mutually opposing edges.
Flat components such as, for instance, solar modules or solar collectors, etc., are normally arranged outside, whether free-standing or on the roofs of houses, on a framework. The framework itself is normally anchored in the ground or on the roof and comprises, for instance, appropriate lateral guides formed from appropriate profile rails, to which the components are fixed via a suitable fastening device. Such a fastening device normally includes two parallel profile rails that are to be arranged parallel to, and spaced apart from, one another on the framework and that extend between the framework segments. The components are fixed to these profile rails at their edges or by using fastening means. Normally, screw fastenings are used, that is, suitable retaining units that are securely screwed to the profile rails and fixed in a suitable manner, frequently using screw connections, as well. In this manner, each individual component is fastened or screwed on individually, which is very complex during assembly and also during disassembly, for instance, if one component must be exchanged because of a defect.
German patent application 10 2006 053 831, published subsequently, describes a fastening option that is much more simple in comparison. In it, a simply embodied retaining sheet is used that is inserted into an undercut groove on a profile rail and rotated, and that has a retaining segment that laterally overlaps the frame of a component. The retaining sheets are merely inserted or rotated in, which facilitates very simple fastening and thus simple construction of the entire arrangement, and exchanging a component should also be simple. The requirement for this type of fastening is that each component has a frame that is overlapped by the retaining part. For instance, in the case of a solar module it would not be possible to place the retaining part directly on the upper glass plate since this could cause damage to the latter. The presence of the frame and the circumstance that the mounting sheet in the assembled position is arranged between the frames so that in the assembled position they are spaced apart by a few millimeters or centimeters is disadvantageous in that this reduces the maximum possible active surface area on the solar modules that can be placed on the given base surface area. Relative, for instance, to the surface area of the roof of a house, this mandatory spacing between the individual modules, whether in the vertical or horizontal, leads to that fact that far less module surface area can be placed than would be available for base surface area.
The underlying problem of the invention is to provide a fastening device that permits very close adjacent arrangement of flat components, in particular solar modules.